Appwrite: Self-Hosted Backend Platform

Appwrite is an open-source backend-as-a-service (BaaS) platform that provides developers with a complete set of APIs for building web and mobile applications. With over 54,000 GitHub stars, it is one of the leading self-hosted alternatives to Firebase. Appwrite handles authentication, databases, file storage, serverless functions, and real-time messaging through a unified REST and GraphQL API.

Self-hosting Appwrite gives you a production-ready backend that runs entirely on your infrastructure — no vendor lock-in, no usage-based billing surprises, and full control over your application data.

Key Features

• Authentication with 30+ OAuth providers, email/password, magic links, and phone login
• Document database with collections, queries, indexes, and relationship support
• File storage with built-in compression, encryption, and image transformation
• Serverless functions supporting Node.js, Python, PHP, Ruby, Dart, and more
• Real-time subscriptions for live data updates across clients
• Teams and role-based permissions for fine-grained access control
• Webhooks and event triggers for integrating with external services
• SDKs for 15+ platforms including Flutter, React Native, Apple, and Android

Why Self-Host Appwrite?

No usage-based pricing. Firebase and similar BaaS platforms charge per read, per write, per function invocation, and per GB of bandwidth. Self-hosted Appwrite eliminates all metered billing — your costs are the fixed price of your VPS, regardless of how many API calls your app makes.

Data ownership and compliance. When your backend runs on your own server, your user data, authentication records, and file uploads never leave your infrastructure. This simplifies GDPR compliance and gives you full audit control over data access.

No vendor lock-in. Firebase projects become deeply coupled to Google Cloud. Appwrite's open-source, self-hosted model means you can migrate, fork, or extend the platform without depending on any single cloud vendor's continued support or pricing decisions.

Full stack customization. Self-hosting lets you configure database engines, storage backends, function runtimes, and email providers to match your exact requirements. You can tune performance, add custom middleware, and integrate with private network services.

System Requirements

Resource	Minimum	Recommended
CPU	2 vCPUs	4+ vCPUs
RAM	2 GB	4 GB
Storage	20 GB SSD	50 GB SSD
OS	Ubuntu 22.04+	Ubuntu 24.04

Appwrite runs multiple services (API, database, cache, worker) in Docker containers. The minimum specs handle development workloads, while production deployments serving real user traffic benefit from additional CPU and RAM.

Getting Started

The fastest way to deploy Appwrite on your VPS is with Docker Compose through Dokploy. Our step-by-step deployment guide walks you through the full setup, including persistent storage, environment configuration, and SSL.

Deploy Appwrite with Dokploy →

Alternatives

• Supabase — Postgres-based backend platform with real-time subscriptions and edge functions
• PocketBase — Lightweight backend in a single Go binary with embedded SQLite
• Nhost — GraphQL-based backend platform built on Hasura and PostgreSQL
• Parse — Node.js backend framework with MongoDB support and push notifications

FAQ

How does Appwrite compare to Firebase? Appwrite provides similar capabilities — auth, database, storage, and functions — but is fully open-source and self-hosted. You avoid Google's usage-based pricing and vendor lock-in. Appwrite uses a document database model and offers more runtime options for serverless functions.

Can Appwrite handle production traffic? Yes. Appwrite is designed for production use and includes built-in rate limiting, abuse detection, and horizontal scaling capabilities. For high-traffic applications, you can scale individual services independently using Docker orchestration.

What databases does Appwrite use internally? Appwrite uses MariaDB as its internal database engine. You interact with it through Appwrite's document-based API — you define collections and attributes, and Appwrite handles the underlying SQL schema and queries.

Can I use Appwrite with my existing frontend framework? Yes. Appwrite provides official SDKs for React, Vue, Angular, Svelte, Flutter, React Native, and more. The REST and GraphQL APIs work with any HTTP client, so virtually any frontend framework can integrate with Appwrite.

---

App data sourced from selfh.st open-source directory.